Second chance
by tacit troubadour
Summary: Miraculously, she came back. Amazingly, she was unharmed. But too many blessings come with a curse. What happened once has happened again. The amnesia, whose cure was never found. This time, surrounded by those she loves and knows, she has forgotten the treasures of two years past. The struggles of her family and Chrom's Shepherds, in hopes of recovering their Robin.
1. Chapter 1

******Second chance**  
Prologue: Recurring encounters  


_So… tired…_  
Several field sparrows chirped cheerfully and swooped in the blue sky above a grassy field.  
_Want… to sleep…_  
Gentle breezes wisp through the large tree, growing on a steep slope, shading a hooded figure sheltering beneath.  
_So… tired…_  
Clouds floating in the clear, blue sky meandered into the path of the sun, light momentarily lessening.

"Brother, we have to do something…" A high pitched and childish voice, filled with concern, suddenly interrupted the peace of the plains.

_What… blazes in the who…?_  
The cloaked person murmured something incomprehensible and their eyelids fluttered slightly.

"Well then, what do you propose we do?" Their vision was still a little blurry and only two(not including a giant blue tree behind them), very messy outlines were made out.

_Man voice…hrgh…._  
They muttered a quiet curse when an intake of breath was heard from the first, female speaker.  
_Let… me… sleep…_

"Um… well…" She stumbled over her words, as though hesitant to give her suggestion.

The figure fully opened their eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of a blond-haired girl with a ridiculous, buttercup yellow, metal-framed dress and a blue-haired man with one, bare arm hanging out of his already-battered armour. The 'giant blue tree' was revealed to be a heavily armed man on an equally dangerous-looking horse. It snorted at her.

The man-not-on-the-horse nodded smiled warmly "I see you're awake now, Robin." He stretched out a welcoming hand for her to clasp, but was interrupted by the girl.

"Hey there!" She pushed past the man and leaned down towards Robin, grinning cheekily.

Robin stared dully at the oddballs and blinked, confused.  
_Ngh…_

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know." He held out his hand once more "Give me your hand."

Then she snapped right back to attention and surveyed them, eyes darting between the trio and the large party behind them. There was a glacial beauty in her lavender eyes and poise. Wordlessly, Robin placed a marble-white hand on top of his. She felt like ice and he flinched from her frigid touch. She observed his reaction, cool and calculating. With no emotion.

His smile faltered and worry betrayed his handsome features "…Robin?"

Her dead eyes flickered and Robin dragged her gaze to meet those troubled blue eyes "And… who might you be?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Seco****nd**** chance  
**Chapter 1: Barracks

"Oh, Naga, save him!" An ash-blond white-robed figure pounded something against the wooden table, three sides of which were occupied by occupants "That was the fifteenth time in this month alone!"

A heavily armed gang were inside a miniature room,gathered around a miniature table, complete with a fir tree decorated with sweets and a tripping-hazard of a log placed strategically at the shadow of the table. Bottles of unknown beverages were littered around the tiny room, as were flagon, glasses, tea cups, mugs and tankards, to name a few.

"Yes, yes, my dear Libra, it was the fifteenth, I believe…" Across the agitated person, sat a man with long, blue hair, sipping a cup of tea, pinky hanging out elegantly "Will he never learn…"

"Gregor think he is sorrow-fulled." A middle-aged scruffy-looking man took a draught from the tankard set in front of him "Only Lady Time can help him."

"If… If I was stronger then I could have blown her back… towards Chrom..." Gregor turned around to see a red-headed boy sobbing into his pointy mage's hat, somebody rubbing his back to stifle the crying "If my skill in magic was more proficient then… then…"

"Awww, Ricken, don't be like that, you know that everything's going to be fine!" The white-haired boy behind him patted his head and grinned heartily "She promised she would be back, so we just have to sit tight and wait."

A dead silence filled the barracks. The two mages sat quietly for a moment and the once-cheerful boy sniffed unhappily. Doves flitted past outside the window, singing the songs doves sing, without a care in the world. Finally, someone interrupted the monotony.

"Listen, everyone's feeling the blues, so have some cocoa." A brown haired youth clenched his mug of hot chocolate before drinking a little "Even though it's damn bitter."

"Teach never did finish teachin' his star pupil how to belch properly." A topless, muscular man spoke without his usual flamboyance "We only got up to shopping basics." His voice was duller than his eyes.

"Stop that, Vaike!" Huffed a good-looking man with a cowlick "You, of all people should be cheering everyone else up, we just need to wait for her to come back!"

The hanging gloom and despair returned quickly enough. If Vaike had lost his vital spirit, the world was bound to end. Or, at least, come close to that. The mere thought of the world ending again simultaneously triggered the same image in the mind of every person in the room. A memory of a smiling woman fading away on the back of a hideous beast.

"Well, I think it's pig slop for us to just sit 'round a table and mope like mushrooms, right?" A boy drummed a worn out pot on the little table space he had "Just wait a bit and the Miss will turn up as good as new."

Murmurs and nods of approval were heard and seen in the room. Stahl, the Shepherd with the cow-lick, beamed at Donnel, the farm boy with the pot-hat. Ricken sniffed on his crate and the cocoa-lover offered him and his white-haired friend a toffee each. The blue-haired noble poured tea into a different tea cup and handed it to Libra. Vaike accidentally smashed a brown bottle when Gregor bumped into him to refill their beer tankards.

"Well, Donnel, Stahl, that's the best way to look at it… hello?" Someone called out from the one, mysteriously empty spot on the table end "I'm here… hello, it's me… Kellam?"

Of course, someone who is never seen and never heard is someone who is always there. Kellam was never noticed. Never part of the group gatherings. Unlike the others, he would be forgotten completely, but his adventures(or lack thereof) are lost myths and stories for another time.

"Gregor go out with Vaike to find him, take him drinking." The mercenary downed his last cup and placed it on the floor "Come, Vaike, we go look for sad man." He grinned goofily and adjusted his sword-strap on his shoulder.

"Have fun." Ricken chewed on his toffee "Gregor, can you help me with my journal when you come back?"

He reached out to open the door "Gregor will help little man when he comes back after winning drinking contest! " But it creaked open before he even touched the iron handle.

The smile froze on his face as he saw who had opened it and everyone in the room turned to the doorway. A collective silence ensued.

"Ah." He scratched his red-hair instinctively "Hello, Lon'qu, we was just looking for you."

"…" The swordsman avoided eye contact with any person in the room and headed towards the sword-rack.

Both mages scurried out of the way and all other members within the room scooted as far from him as possible. Except for Libra, who stood and watched silently as the man crouched and collected the lone Killing Edge left there. Lon'qu realised that there was somebody left at the table and looked up.

"Lon'qu." Libra was frowning "Why do you continue to harm yourself so and give the Shepherds a bad name, after all justice has been done?"

He lowered his gaze and said nothing.

Libra continued "You do realise that the life you keep trying to take from yourself was what Robin tried so hard to protect?" A sharp intake of breath was heard from Lon'qu "She loved this world too much to see it suffer and offered her life in exchange for each and every one of ours."

"Do not." He clenched the hilt of the sword "Speak of… _her_." The man stood to full height, quite a bit taller than Libra.

"It causes you pain to think of her, does it not?" Said the Priest, in a gentler tone "Robin wanted you to be happy, so she promised to come back."

"…" Lon'qu closed his eyes "It has been three months."

"She promised to come back, no matter how small the chance, so we will believe in her." Libra paused and quizzed him "I believe that you were the one who stated that 'some people are not the dying sort', Lon'qu, what happened to the hope that you held?"

"I was hopeful… once, but only a fool believes that the dead can come back to life."

Libra laughed bitterly at his response "Though I know it is not my station to ask this, what happened to the hope you all held?" He was now addressing the other Shepherds as well.

Stahl stared pointedly at Vaike. The younger boys looked uneasily at each other, with Donnel turning a little pale.

"In such a short passage of time, you lose belief in Robin and you proceed to mourn her passing, despite Naga herself saying there is a chance of her coming back."

"A chance is small, Priest." Lon'qu pushed past him "I would rather die than live a lifetime of nothing waiting for or even trying to forget her."

"Hey." Mister Sweet-tooth walked right up to them "Beetle-man, Padre, cool it."

"I was about to leave, Gaius." He scowled at him "Let me out."

"Gaius, this talk is coming to an end now, there is no more reason for us to continue." Libra drank a little tea "I wonder if there is milk…" He walked out of the door in search of Maribelle, who most definitely knew where all the little bits and trinkets for tea-drinking were found.

"My dear -er- man-friend Libra, there is milk right here!" Virion sprinted after the Priest "Virion, away!"

"Um, NO DON'T USE THAT!" Ricken went off in hot pursuit of the noble "THAT'S THE MILK HENRY CURSED WHEN YOU WERE DISTRACTED!"

The dark mage ran as well "Ricken, you can't just give away a little prank like that!"

"Jeepers!" Donnel covered his mouth "I-I drank some!"

Stahl greened "M-me too…"

"No need to do the worrying, Gregor help you out of room to latrines." He laughed at their discomfort "This is why Gregor is always drinking off the beer he bring himself!" He led them away.

Vaike hemmed "That's why Teach drinks good, strong, spirits… Breath of Dragons is best!" The warrior gazed forlornly at the smashed bottle on the floor "Might as well get… GREGOR YOU OWE TEACH ONE BOTTLE, SO GET BACK HERE!" Off went Vaike.

"Yeah, well, Beetle-man… ignoring all those hooligans," Gaius took on a serious note "I just want you to think about how your kids would feel if they lost their father, _again_."

"Tch…" He frowned "They…" Lon'qu had no answer, simply because he had been obsessing over his deceased wife, rather than of his living children.

"Lon'qu look after those kids." The thief offered him three lollypops "Eat one for yourself and give the others to Morgan and Bubbles look-alike Mark."

"Her name is 'Mar'qu' and sugary foods are unhealthy." But Lon'qu took them anyways and finally left the near-empty room with his blade, before shutting the door quietly.

"You are unhealthy for the mood." Gaius unwrapped a wafer "He says 'Sugary foods are unhealthy', huh, how you can survive without them, how you can survive…"

He chomped on it with gusto "Mmmm, chocolate…"


End file.
